Scenes from Season 5
by horseheadnebula42
Summary: My take on a few key scenes from Buffy season 5, including some moments I felt were missing.
1. Chapter 1

Safe With You

(the missing scene from _Tough Love)_

Buffy scanned the crowded schoolyard anxiously, dodging the streams of kids as they poured out of the front door. _Please tell me she didn't pick today to play truant again_, she thought.

There she was! Walking slowly along, deep in conversation with a tallish boy with floppy brown hair. Despite Buffy's anxiety, she couldn't help noticing that he reminded her faintly of Ben. _No. Bad Buffy. I cannot be thinking about him now, when Dawn is in so much danger …_

"Dawn!" she yelled.

Her sister looked up. Her face fell immediately.

Buffy yelled again. "Dawn, come here! Quickly!"

The boy looked at her in surprise. Dawn blushed furiously and began to drag her feet.

"Er, maybe I better go," said the boy.

"No. Kevin –"

"Sorry. I'll see you around." He turned and hotfooted it in the opposite direction.

Dawn stomped angrily up to Buffy. "What did you have to go and do that for? That was Kevin Berman! I've just about managed to persuade him that I'm not a freak and-"

"Dawn." Buffy lowered her voice. _"Glory got Tara."_

Dawn's eyes opened wide in horror.

"Oh, God! "

"She brain-sucked her. She's at the hospital now. I have to go see her."

"Did she – Am I – "

"I don't think so, but I can't be sure. Dawn, I have to make sure you're safe first. C'mon."

"Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you," said Buffy firmly, "to the only other person we know who has any chance of protecting you. "

In spite of her tears, Dawn's face lit up. There was only one person that could mean.

The afternoon shadows were lengthening as they hopped off the bus and walked swiftly through the cemetery.

As they reached the door of one particular crypt, Buffy hesitated. Then she did something she'd never done before. She raised her hand and knocked.

For a moment there was silence. Then, faintly in the distance, they heard a familiar voice say: "What the hell was that?"

Buffy gently pushed the outer door open, poked her head around the inner door and found herself looking straight down the twin barrels of a shotgun –

Which was almost dropped by the vampire who was holding it as he suddenly realised who he was pointing it at.

"_Buffy,"_ he breathed, an unmistakeable flash of joy illuminating his battered features. Then he straightened up and added, in a much more normal tone, "What the bloody hell did you have to go and knock for? You've never done that before-" He stopped himself abruptly. "Er. Well. Sorry about the welcome. It's just, that Glory hellbitch knows where I live now, and – Oh, it's you, Niblet," he added as Dawn slipped in behind her sister. "What can I be doing for you, then?"

Dawn gasped in horror.

"Oh, my God! _Your face …"_

He did not, admittedly, look as bad as the last time Buffy had seen him. But his hair was still dishevelled, the cut across his lower lip had swollen up and the bruises on his face had blossomed into a pair of magnificent black eyes. He shrugged. "Guess I'm still not exactly a pretty sight – "

_No time for this,_ thought Buffy. "Glory got Tara. Can I leave Dawn with you?_"_

He stared at her in horror. "What, Red's witch-girl? Oh God, no."

"She brain-sucked her," Buffy went on. "I have to go see her. Please – can you keep Dawn safe? I know you can –"

"_Can_ and _will_," replied Spike firmly. He limped over to the side of the crypt, picked up his coat and shrugged into it. "C'mon, Niblet," he said, holding out his hand.

"You'd better not stay here, they know where to find you," Buffy went on.

"No worries," said Spike. "We'll go to the caves. You know the ones I mean? Down the tunnel, take the first right fork, carry straight on until you get to the junction with the Dutton sewer, then right again." He paused and looked down. "Tell Red – tell her I hope Tara's OK," he added softly. "Glory's not one to mess with for long."

Buffy stroked her sister's hair. "Dawn," she said, gently. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Honest."

"She'll be safe with me," said Spike. "Anything wants a piece of Dawn will have to come through Spike first." He looked her straight in the eye_. "I promise."_

"I know," replied Buffy, turning to leave.

But there was something else she needed to say.

"Oh, and, Spike – "

He grimaced. "Yeah, all right, I know the rest of this song. Anything happens to her, I get the stake –"

"_No,"_ said Buffy, with a horrified expression. "I meant – _Thank you." _She turned on her heel and left the crypt before he could reply. He stared after her with a dazed expression for a moment, then murmured "Bloody hell. Did you hear that?"

"Yes," said Dawn in a small voice. "And she meant it."


	2. Chapter 2

Suddenly at Home

(the missing scene from _The Body_)

1630 Revello Drive was in total darkness. Normally there was a light somewhere – hell, the Slayer never went to bed this early – but tonight there had not been a single sign of life, and it wasn't like the dark shadow behind the bushes on the opposite side of the road hadn't been there since sunset.

Almost 2am. He was on the verge of leaving when his keen ears caught the sound of an engine at the bottom of the road. Sports model. As the little red BMW took shape on the dark road he caught an unnecessary breath in his throat, dropped his cigarette on the ground and ground it out. No need to give the game away.

The car drew up outside the house.

There she was! If he'd had a heartbeat it would have been imitating a piledriver by now. And it wasn't just her – the Niblet was clambering out of the back seat.

Buffy's face was pale and tight, almost closed.

Dawn's was streaked with tears.

He strained his ears to hear the conversation. Buffy's voice was flat and toneless – she appeared to be thanking Giles for his help.

Something was horribly wrong.

He watched as they entered the house, switched on one light, then switched it off again.

Giles drove away.

And there was no more sound, or movement, for the rest of the night ….

Two days later, rifling through the small ads in the Sunnydale Press, he flinched as the name "Summers" caught his eye. _Probably nothing to do with her, it's a common enough name._

He looked at the item. And froze.

_SUDDENLY AT HOME –On Friday 4__th__ March 2001, Joyce Elizabeth Summers, beloved mother of Buffy and Dawn. Funeral details will be announced shortly. _

The world stopped.

Joyce …

"Oh God, no," he whispered hoarsely. "Please, no …"

Now he knew why Buffy had looked the way she did last night.

_Joyce …._

Coldness enveloped him. Never again would Joyce's warm smile welcome him when all Buffy could give him was a cold stare. Never again would he share a cup of hot chocolate with her. Never again would she ask him his opinion on something to do with the gallery.

She was gone.

Joyce Summers was gone.

And Spike laid his head on his writing desk and wept cold, bitter tears for the loss of the only human being who had ever treated him like one.


	3. Chapter 3

Something's Not Right

(a missing scene from _Spiral_)

Xander was thoroughly wigged. In the last seven hours, just about everything he knew and believed in had been turned on its head. He'd found himself skipping town, with the others, in a stolen Winnebago, fleeing from – who knew what? He'd seen a bunch of guys who looked like Crusaders or something – good guys, holy-war-fighting types – chasing them, shooting at them, trying to kill them. They'd managed to injure Giles pretty badly.

For someone who had always considered himself to be one of the good guys, it was a profoundly unsettling experience.

There was worse. He'd been forced to watch someone who was well known to be an evil, blood-sucking bastard, who had nearly bitten his neck the first time they met and who had threatened to kill him more than once, behaving like a goddamn hero. How weird was that? He hadn't even really seen what happened. All he knew was that some of the goons had stabbed their swords through the roof, there had been a blur of black leather and bleached hair and Spike was suddenly standing over Buffy, gripping the blade of a sword with his bare hands, the point about two inches above her head. Gritting his teeth and ignoring the blood running down his wrists, he'd snapped out something about time for heroics, Buffy had yelled "Xander! Hatch!" and the next moment he was giving her a leg-up out of the roof of the RV while Spike hung grimly on to the sword, not letting go of it until Buffy had dealt with its owner. _I know he likes pain_, thought the boy. _But surely, that's a bit much_ …

"Buffalo jerky flavoured crisps?" snapped a disbelieving voice behind him. Xander shook himself. While he'd been wool-gathering, Spike was apparently doing what Buffy had just asked them to do and checking the supplies. "Who the bloody hell eats those? What's wrong with salt and vinegar?"

"I do, actually," said Xander, taking the packet from him. Spike just looked at him for a moment, as if he didn't quite believe he was real, and went back to sorting through the tins and packets.

Xander had had enough. He decided to go and see how Anya was doing.

Left alone, Spike leaned against the wall and stared morosely at the motley collection of food without really seeing it. Everything had been going so well. Buffy had asked him for help. Buffy had defended his right to be there in front of everyone. Hell, he'd even saved her life, or at least kept her from a nasty head wound. And the moment that smarmy doctor had shown up, it had all counted for nothing. She was probably in there with him now. Watching him heroically doing his life-saving bit on Rupert.

Spike shook his head almost involuntarily. Something was definitely wrong. Something about this bloke was bothering him, and it wasn't just his attitude to Buffy. He was almost positive that there was more to him than met the eye.

"_There_ you are."

His heart leapt into his throat. Buffy was standing just inside the door, with her hand on the handle. She pushed it gently to behind her and took a couple of hesitant steps towards him.

He cleared his throat. "It's, er, it's, we've got about two days' worth of stuff. If we last for two days, that is. "

Buffy glanced behind her, almost as if afraid someone was listening. When she spoke, it was much more gently than she had in front of the others. "I wanted, um, I wanted to say – "

He tilted his head to one side. "What?"

"I wanted to make sure I said – Thank you. For what you've done. I mean –" she waved a hand around her head – "we'd never have got here without you, we wouldn't have got anywhere in fact –"

Spike was dumbstruck. He stared at her, desperately fighting back an urge to fling his arms around her, and wondering what she would say next. As she seemed to be expecting him to say something, he looked down at the floor and blurted "snothing really, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you and Dawn, you know that-" and stopped himself abruptly.

She reached out and touched his arm. A bolt of electricity shot through him.

"I know," she said softly.

He had to say it. He couldn't not say it.

"Look – Buffy. That bloke Ben. Do you trust him?"

"Of course I trust him," Buffy replied, looking puzzled. "He's a doctor. You know, trust me, I'm a doctor. Kinda goes with the territory-"

"Yeah. Right. Well, I bloody don't."

Buffy frowned. "What do you mean?"

What _did _he mean? "I – I – just – kind of get a feeling that he's not on the level. That he's hiding something-"

Buffy's mouth set in a grim line. "Oh, I see what this is. You're jealous." She turned on her heel as if to go.

"NO!" _I'm getting this all wrong as usual_, he thought furiously. "Well, yeah, OK – you got me there. But – I just got a feeling that he's not who he says he is, is all."

"Spike." Buffy looked up at him with big beseeching eyes. "Please. Don't do this. Not now. Not after everything you've-"

"Look, I wouldn't even mention it if I didn't think it was important," he said, desperately. "I know I'm not exactly the Brain of Britain. But I got an instinct and it's hardly ever wrong. Something's not right about this bloke. I don't know what it is, but-"

There was a sudden commotion from outside. Someone was yelling "Let me out! You gotta let me out!"

Buffy turned and dashed through the door with Spike right on her heels. Ben was hammering frantically on the front door of the gas station. Dawn, Xander, Anya and Tara were staring at him in astonishment when –

the world moved –

and Buffy froze, staring uncomprehendingly at the hell-god Glory as she stretched and smiled in front of them.

Buffy grabbed Dawn and shoved her behind her.

"Well, well, well," said Glory, looking around the little group with a really unpleasant smile on her face. "Looks like little Ben finally did something right."

They were all there. There was the Slayer, her eyes bugging out of her head. Right next to her was the follicly-fried vampire, who still had some noticeable bruises on his face from his recent encounter with a certain God. (Why _did _the Slayer have a pet vampire?)There was the red-haired witch with her arm around her brain-sucked lover, who was staring vacantly into space. Her other cartoon pals were scattered about. And behind her, all shiny and perfect, a little girl with long dark hair. The Key.

She caught sight of the knight tied to a pillar in the corner. "Oh, look, it's Gregor." She picked a loose hub-cap off the floor and flung it at him like a frisbee. It sliced into his chest and as his head dropped she added with glee "Now it's not."

Only Spike had seen exactly what happened. He had watched in mounting horror as Ben shimmered and morphed into the God of Bad Home Perms. And for a fleeting second_I was right _resounded through his skull before he let out a furious yell and launched himself at her. She laughed lazily, batted him aside with one hand and sent him flying into Xander.

Then it was Buffy's turn to rush her and be tossed head-first into Willow. In a blur of movement, Glory was gone, and there was a Dawn-shaped hole in the immediate vicinity …

Buffy burst through the door and ran straight into the energy barrier. She turned, ran back and shouted "Will! Get it down! NOW!"

Willow's eyes were already black and she was chanting. Buffy ran back outside to see …

the Knights of Byzantium lying in a dead and dying mass in front of the gas station. The dark-skinned leader raised his head painfully and gasped out .. "The Beast…"

_I won't let anything happen to you …_

But Dawn was gone_._

Buffy's legs collapsed under her and she sank to the ground. For a moment she was vaguely aware of Spike yelling something about car keys, and then Willow's voice, calling her name, getting fainter and fainter and fading away …


End file.
